Snorkeling experience of a lifetime with Humpback Whale in Lhaviyani Atoll

15 April, 2024

Guests and staff were treated to a snorkelling experience of a lifetime when a baby humpback whale took a nap in Lhaviyani Atoll this week! Dive Instructor Anna shares her experience here:

“I had just come out of the water from a Discover Scuba Diving session when a guest came into the dive center and saying he saw something big in front of his water villa. He asked if it was a whaleshark, but when he mentioned that the big thing was breathing out like a whale and he could see the water splashing I told him that this couldn’t be a whaleshark and might be a pilot whale.

“Ten minutes later Ibbe, our compressor technician, came back from the beach and told me there was something big on our House Reef! I couldn’t see it from the shore and he couldn’t go while the compressor was running so I said I would go and investigate. Not quite sure what I was looking for, I started snorkelling out. I saw my colleague Adi teaching a course at the house reef but didn’t bother to disturb him at this point.

“Two minutes later, I saw the big baby humpback whale sleeping at a depth of 7-8m. I took some short videos to have proof that it was a HUMPBACK WHALE and not a pilot whale! I speed snorkelled back to get Adi’s attention and showed him the sign for whaleshark so I could get him to stop the skills and see the whale. I then swam straight back to get Ibbe.

“I sent messages to people from the other islands, instructors who might be on boats etc. and within minutes, everyone on the island knew about the whale and was watching from the shore, or got ready to go snorkelling. Komandoo’s General Manager, Navaz, made sure we had a speedboat to go out because the whale was moving fast along the Reef when he was not sleeping. Shortly before I went on the boat a had a call from Ray, Prodivers Regional Manager based at Kuredu, who organized a boat for the Kuredu Staff. After while, we had boats from different islands snorkelling with the whale. Everyone behaved very respectfully. In the water it was not just guests even the captain from Aisha Boat, Captain Ahmed, jumped in and snorkelled with the whale too! Most of the morning boats from Prodivers came with their divers and snorkelled. In the afternoon we had even more boats joining in, but still everyone stayed a respectful distance from the whale and it hung around for at least 24 hours! Boats with guests and staff from all Prodivers dive centres in Lhaviyani Atoll were able to spend time with it again the following day.

“It was a very joyful event for everyone. People were starstruck and some, myself included, even cried.

“Guests from Komandoo shared their videos and pictures with us and in the evening we had Ocean Discovery Night where we showed some of the footage to all of the guests. Two days later, everyone is still talking about our little baby whale!

“We contacted different marine biologists to confirm that the behaviour of the whale was normal and it was not hurt or sick. The information we got was that baby whales can get lost from time to time and if they do, they seek shelter in shallower areas and wait for their family to picked them up again.”

Once you’ve i message before your arrival if you have any questions.

Facts about the encounter:
Length of the whale: between 8 and 10 metres
First spotted: 10th April, 9:00 am at Komandoo Water Villas
Further sightings: 11th April at Komandoo’s front jetty and on 12th outside Hinnavaru’s house reef
Last Spotted: 13th outside Kudadoo’s house reef

Come snorkelling and diving with Prodivers – you never know what surprises the ocean has waiting for you!

Prodivers is available at Hurawalhi, Jawakara, Kuredu, Lily Beach and Kudadoo.

Related stories

• Liveaboard Special Offers, Last Minute Deals
• Where to Spots Whale Sharks & Manta Rays in Maldives
• The Ultimate Maldives Snorkeling Guide
• Orcas on the hunt – Rare encounter at Jawakara Islands Maldives!
• Most Popular Maldives Resorts for Divers